Proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the second most common autosomal
recessive inherited disorder in humans. It is the most common genetic cause
of infant mortality. As yet, there is no core for this neuromuscular disor
der which affects the lower motor neurons and proximal muscles of the limbs
and trunk. In the last decade, significant advances have been made in unde
rstanding this disease, from linkage analysis to isolating the defective ge
ne and identifying its protein product, This review summarizes the most rec
ent advance in SMA research: the development of animal models of the diseas
e, in particular mouse models of SMA, The SMA mice that we describe here pr
esent with symptoms similar to those seen in SMA patients. They promise to
further the understanding of the molecular basis of this disease and demons
trate the feasibility of using the intact SMN2 gene, found in all SMA patie
nts, as a means of treating this disorder.